Doctors: Facebook, Skype lead to plastic surgery rise

A lot of the discussion about the rise in social networking tends to shift toward the subject of users being divorced from real life, sitting at home instead of going out and actually meeting people. One would assume this would lead to a society where vanity and looks don’t seem as important, but in fact it’s exactly the opposite that seems to be true.

Don’t believe us? Then just take a look at a plastic surgeon in Virginia that offers a “FaceTime Facelift, a procedure that was designed because people had been coming in and saying they wanted to look more photogenic when chatting with people over FaceTime. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Profile pictures on Facebook, video calls on Skype, it’s all part of the problem. Even though you may not ever see someone in real life, you want them to know that you look good.

New York plastic surgeon Dr. Adam Schaffner summed it up in a Mashable interview: “People will come in and say, ‘I saw myself in the mirror, but I didn’t really notice it until I saw myself on Facebook or on my iPhone or iPad. When you look in the mirror you’re seeing the mirror image of yourself. But when you see yourself on social media, you’re seeing yourself the way the world sees you.”